A budget support loan agreement of 74 million dollars (about 238.5 million dinars) was signed on Friday between the Arab Monetary Fund (AMF) and the Central Bank of Tunisia (BCT).
This “ordinary” loan agreement was signed by Director-General and Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Arab Monetary Fund (AMF) Dr Abdulrahman Bin Abdullah Al Hamidi and Governor of the Central Bank of Tunisia, Marouane El Abassi, in his capacity as Governor of Tunisia at the AMF.
The agreement will be disbursed in three tranches, the first of which worth $37 million (about 119.7 million dinars) will be released early next week. This loan aims to support the financial restructuring programme included in the Tunisian reform programme, in terms of restoring financial balances and reducing the balance of payments deficit.
The loan will be repaid over five years with a grace period of two and a half years.
The disbursement of this credit will be done via the Buna platform which will be used for the first time by the Tunisian State.
The Central Bank of Tunisia started at the end of January 2022 the go-live of its membership in the inter-Arab settlement system “Buna”, after signing the participation agreement on October 14, 2021.
It is the second Arab central bank to have joined “Buna”, this settlement system affiliated to the Arab Monetary Fund and launched on December 28, 2020, to allow central and commercial banks to make payments in Arab and international currencies, with a view to fostering the integration of payment infrastructures and developing commercial and financial exchanges in the Arab region.
The Buna platform is affiliated with the regional Arab Payments Clearing and Settlement Institution, which is owned by the AMF.
 was signed on Friday between the Arab Monetary Fund (AMF) and the Central Bank of Tunisia (BCT).){kind=link}